GREEN to GOLD for Veterans at RCC

GREEN to GOLD- Program for Veterans free and open to the public

RAMAPO: Rockland Community College is offering a new workshop series to help young veterans transition and achieve the life and career they want. The free program is open to the public and there is still time to enroll in the next series which begins January 2017. Please contact Jonathan Barnwell, Coordinator of Veterans Affairs, for more information: jbarnwel@sunyrockland.eduLearn more about Green to Gold at RCC

Veterans receive mentoring and support to help clarify their goals before designing an effective personal plan to achieve their career and financial goals. The group meets on Saturdays and includes a “Next Mission” working visit to West Point in April. The program is led by Suffern resident Patrick Curran, now a business executive at Pfizer. Curran enlisted in the army after attending North Rockland HS. After graduating West Point in 1997, he served as a US Army Engineer. Curran, a certified business trainer, is a Lean/Six Sigma Black Belt and earned an MS in Human Resources Education and an MBA in Finance from Fordham University.

Along with skills and experience, Curran brings a deep conviction to helping veterans live their lives with purpose, stating, “Our country needs veterans to take everything they’ve been through, fully transition back to civilian life, and continue to serve as leaders within their jobs, their families, and their communities.” Several veterans’ organizations are also participating, providing business and relationship resources, these include TEAM RWB, Team Rubicon, and Edge4Vets.

A group of veterans completed a financial literacy program with Curran last Spring at RCC. Student Rebekah Stanford said, “We have overcome so much after taking your class. We paid off close to $20k of our debt since our final presentation. The lessons learned have relieved a lot of stress that we were feeling at the beginning of the year.” Another participant, John Vitale, said he would recommend this course to every veteran, saying, “You see blindspots and make plans to fix them.” RCC is a military friendly institution and is offering this open to the public program entirely free of charge.